Envelop.



PATENTED NOV. l, 1904.

ANo. 7514.086.

J. H. LAMB.

ENVELOP.

APPLIGATIQN FILED ocT.1z. 190s.

N0 MODEL.

UNTTEE STATES Patented November 1, 1904.

PATENT EEicE,

JACOB GREENBERG, OE NEW YORK, N. Y.

ENVELOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 774,086, dated November 1, 1904.

Application filed October 12, 1903. Serial No. 176,740. (No model.)

To (LIZ 11171/0771/ it Ntrty concern:

Be it known that l, JAMES HAZARD LAMB, a

citizen of the United States,residingin Boston,

in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and use-A The method of canceling stamps by mark-4 ing thereon, as generally practiced at the present time in the postal service, has not been found suificiently destructive of the stamp to prevent its further use, and it is believed that large numbers of such canceled stamps are removed from the envelop, the marks removed therefrom, and the stamps again used for the payment of postage, and that the government is a continual loser thereby.

Y The more eectual means of cancellation by mutilating or perforating the stamp has not been adopted, principally for the reason that no method satisfactory to the post-office 0TH- cials has been devised by which these results could be accomplished without injury to the contents of the envelop. It is the purpose of this improvement to provide means to effect such cancellation without causing the injury above mentioned; and to that end my invention consists of a special envelop having a selected location for the stamp, the matter in the'envelop being prevented from encroachr ment upon portions of the envelop reserved for the canceling device by gumming together a suilicient strip of the back and face of the envelop at the edge opposite the sealing-Hap, such cancellation destroying the structure of portions of the postage-stamp in addition to defacing it; and the invention further consists of the arrangement and construction of certain details to be more particularly referred `to and shown in drawings, in whichi Figure l is a front View of a closed envelop. Eig. 2 is a rear view of the envelop open. Eig. 3 is a cross-section of the envelop at the center of the stamp.

The envelop is of any ordinary type and may have a receptacle formed by folding flaps a and b upon the face c, the bottom flap d being gummed for sealing and the top iiap e folded upon the end flaps a, and b, astrip along the top edge of the face and the end and top iiaps being gummed down to the line f, so when the envelop is finished the interior will be closed all the way across the top from the line f to the top edge of the envelop, this construction leaving a strip g entirely clear from anything which may be put within the receptacle of the envelop and which is also firm and of nearly uniform thickness. Such an envelop may receive its contents s at the bottom. Then the bottom flap CZ is secured to the back of the envelop, as usual, and a stamp /t is applied to the face so as to overlap the strip g, and hence overlapping a part of the face c, a part of the end flap a, and a part of the flap e. As is more clearly seen in the enlarged sectional view, Fig. 3, the contents s will be prevented from having' the long edge thereof project close enough to the line f to be damaged, as the space e' at the corners of the envelop is of somewhat wedge shape, the flaps a o, where the envelop is made of heavy material, being tapered off, as at e', Eig. 3, thus forming the spaces e at the two corners of the envelop and holding the contents slightly away from the line f, as seen in this view. This tapering brings the inner face of theend aps at the edge vflush with the sealed faces of the strip g. When such an envelop is to be dated by machine, the line of printing t' may extend along' the strip g at the top of the envelop, the thin uniform strip offering excellent means for` guiding and feeding the envelop and for receiving the imprint of the type-wheels. To cancel the stamp, any suitable device may be employed so as to punc' ture one or more lines of holes j' through the stamp and strip beneath, some of the material of the stamp being preferably depressed or carried through the strip to or beyond the back of the envelop. This is intended to be accomplished without making' a clear, distinctly-defined hole, but preferably a rough, irreg'ular series of holes, as it is found to be much more diicult to remove the stamp without tearing it if jammed roughly through the said strip. Furthermore, if inlvlines f are also used in defacing the stamp the ink soalrs into the material of the ruptured fibers readily and is much more difficult to remove by the usual means. The holes j are not large, but are close together and preferably are restricted to a portion of the stamp. This weakens such portion of the stamp, so it is very likely to tear if any attempt is made to remove it from the envelop.

The above renders a postage-stamp, even if removed from the envelop, entirely useless for a second application to mail-matter and is also easily accomplished, as but slight changes are necessary in the ordinary devices used in post-ofces.

Having described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- An envelop comprising a body portion having end flaps folded thereon and a top flap folded onto the end flaps and sealed thereto, and the end aps tapered off at the edge to bring the inner face flush with a part of the inner face of the top Hap, the top flap having' V a portion thereof throughout the length of its long edge sealed onto the inner face of the body, and the end aps having one corner sealed to the inner face of the body, the said sealed corners and the sealed portion of the top flap and body forming a sealed imperforate strip extending throughout the length of the envelop at the upper edge thereof, and a main sealing-flap integral with the lower edge of the envelop, the front of the body portion adapted to receive a stamp lying partially on the sealed strip along the top edge of the envelop, whereby the stamp may be perforated and portions thereof forced into the sealed strip, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 7th day of October', A. D. 1903.

JAMES HAZARD LAMB.

Vitnesses:

W. D. STEVENS, C. F. Hown. 

